Natural scavenger repellents from Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus

The ecology of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus (XP) bacteria requires the production of bioactive natural products against invertebrates, vertebrates, bacteria, and fungi. XPdeter will especially selected metabolites for their application in agriculture.

XPdeter aims to (i) validate promising compound classes in the lab and in the field in different bioassays, (ii) create and test a library of synthetically and more accessible derivatives, and (iii) produce the optimized metabolites biotechnologically in XP chassis strains.

Ultimately, the production (iv) of these metabolites will be introduced in Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus bacteria that already produce potent bioactive natural products in order to achieve extracts showing a combination of different bioactivities.

The currently most promising metabolite class, its chemical synthesis and biotechnological production, were all developed as part of the ERC AdG SYNPEP (835108).

Within XPdeter we will apply this knowledge to develop a natural product-based, environmentally friendly and economically feasible product that can be combined with or can even replace currently used synthetic and often harmful chemicals in agriculture.